In Italy, international shoppers’ Tax Free spending on luxury products increased by 14% compared to 2023, in line with the trend recorded in continental Europe. This growth is driven by a mix of nationalities, led by US tourists, who represent 26% of luxury tax free volumes, followed by Chinese (12%), visitors from Gulf countries (11%) and Asia (11%). These nationalities, excluding Asians, increased their tax free spending compared to last year: +8% for US tourists, +42% for Chinese and +12% for Arab tourists. On average, non-EU tourists recorded a spending of 2.886 euros on luxury products. These are some of the data relating to the period January-October 2024 provided by Global Blue – leader in the Tax Free Shopping sector – during the Altagamma Observatory.
“In the last twelve months we have witnessed double-digit growth in the Tax Free luxury market: this underlines the importance of the international shopper in the purchasing dynamics, increasingly more incisive than the domestic customer”, declared Pier Francesco Nervini, COO North & Central Europe & Global Accounts of Global Blue. “Although the outlook for the international traveler remains positive, however, in a phase in which transactions increase while the average expenditure stabilizes, the market will have to get used to a new reading of the data, beyond the single nationality or the generational aspect. A greater capacity for overall analysis of the business will be needed: on this we remain available to brands in the construction of their strategies”.
Among the topics explored in the study presented by Global Blue, there is also the return of the Chinese luxury shopper, whose recovery rate of Tax Free spending stands at 62%. “We are talking about a fundamental basin for the luxury industry, historically crucial for Tax Free, with an average expenditure per shopper of around 4.048 euros, the highest in Italy after that of the Arabs (4.234 euros)”, continued Nervini. More generally, the analysis showed how the Chinese shopper in 2024 preferred to buy in APAC, where the recovery rate of Tax Free spending compared to 2019 reached 204%: “The full return of the Chinese in Europe will be one of the challenges of 2025”, concluded Nervini.
